Componential analysis of problem-solving ability: Performance of patients with frontal lobe damage and amnesic patients on a new sorting test

doi:10.1016/0028-3932(92)90039-O

Neuropsychologia

Volume 30, Issue 8, August 1992, Pages 683-697

https://doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(92)90039-O Get rights and content

Abstract

A new sorting task designed to isolate and measure specific components of problem- solving ability was administered to four subject groups: patients with focal frontal lobe lesions, patients with both frontal dysfunction and amnesia (Korsakoff's syndrome), patients with circumscribed (non-Korsakoff) amnesia, and normal control subjects. The patients with frontal lobe lesions and patients with Korsakoff's syndrome were impaired on eight of the nine components of the task. The findings run counter to theories of a single or primary impairment in patients with frontal lobe dysfunction. Rather, the results suggest that a wide spectrum of deficits in abstract thinking, cognitive flexibility, and use of knowledge to regulate behavior contributes to the problem-solving impairment of these patients. Although the (non-Korsakoff) amnesic patients performed similarly to normal subjects on most measures, a finer analysis suggested that successful performance on this complex sorting task, in addition to being strongly dependent upon frontal lobe function, is mildly dependent upon memory function.

References (39)

A.L. Benton
Differential behavioral effects in frontal lobe disease
Neuropsychologia
(1968)
K.D. Cicerone et al.
Effects of frontal lobe lesions on hypothesis sampling during concept formation
Neuropsychologia
(1983)
E.A. Drewe
The effect of type and area of brain lesion on Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance
Cortex
(1974)
M. Jones-Gotman et al.
Design fluency: The invention of nonsense drawings after focal cortical lesions
Neuropsychologia
(1977)
B. Milner et al.
Behavioral effects of frontal lobe lesions in man
Trends Neurosci.
(1984)
H.F. Nelson
A modified card sorting test sensitive to frontal lobe deficits
Cortex
(1976)
E. Perret
The left frontal lobe of man and the suppression of habitual responses in verbal categorical behaviour
Neuropsychologia
(1974)
D.T. Stuss et al.
The involvement of orbitofrontal cerebrum in cognitive tasks
Neuropsychologia
(1983)
H.L. Teuber et al.
Persistent anterograde amnesia after stab wound of the basal brain
Neuropsychologia
(1968)
J. Vilkki
Problem solving deficits after focal cerebral lesions
Cortex
(1988)

A.L. Benton et al.

A perceptual maze test sensitive to brain damage

J. Neur. Neurosurg. Psychiat.

(1963)

D.C. Delis et al.

Profiles of demented and amnesic patients on the California Verbal Learning Test: Implications for the assessment of memory disorders

Psychological Assessment

(1991)

K. Goldstein

The mental changes due to frontal lobe damage

J. Psychol.

(1944)

W.L. Hays

Statistics

(1981)

R.K. Heaton

A Manual for the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

(1981)

D.O. Hebb et al.

Human behavior after extensive removal from the frontal lobes

Archs neurol. Psychiat.

(1940)

H. Hecaen et al.

Human Neuropsychology

(1978)

R.R. Jacobson et al.

Selective memory loss and global intellectual deficits in alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome

Psychol. Med.

(1987)

J.S. Janowsky et al.

Cognitive impairment following frontal lobe damage and its relevance to human amnesia

Behav. Neurosci.

(1989)

Cited by (131)

Urbach-Wiethe disease in a young patient without apparent amygdala calcification
2023, Neuropsychologia
Urbach-Wiethe disease is an extremely rare genetically-based syndrome which usually leads to dermatological and neurological changes. Neurologically, the amygdaloid region is primarily bilaterally affected. Therefore, several functions modulated by the amygdala are changed in patients with Urbach-Wiethe disease. As the neurological alterations evolve only gradually, it is particularly important to determine the cognitive and brain status of a juvenile. The patient described here was seen briefly at age 9 and tested neuropsychologically at age 19; furthermore, computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of his head was done. There were no important abnormalities in the brain, which is unusual in the light of previous data from other patients. On the cognitive level, the patient was generally within normal limits. However, he had mild problems in attention and concentration, and more prominent problems in emotional processing domain, and in personality dimensions. It is concluded that amygdala calcifications in Urbach-Wiethe disease take place progressively-possibly underpinned by genetic and gender variables; this can subsequently allow psychosocial-social factors (such a proper education and socialization) and biological factors (compensatory neuroplasticity) to retard and diminish the development of socio-emotional and cognitive deteriorations, though the outcome of questionnaires indicates that such patients may develop substantial concerns as to their future life and well-being.
Effectiveness of sorting tests for detecting cognitive decline in older adults with dementia and other common neurodegenerative disorders: A meta-analysis
2021, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
Citation Excerpt :
Some also produce a Description score, which assesses a person’s ability to articulate the category or rule underpinning their sort (e.g., colour, shape, number, Delis et al., 2001). Sorting tasks are amongst the most sensitive to brain damage (Delis et al., 1992; Reitan, 1993) and have been used to detect the cognitive decline caused by a variety of neurodegenerative disorders, such as dementia (Byrne et al., 1998), Parkinson’s disease (Hobson et al., 2007; Paolo et al., 1996) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Barbagallo et al., 2014; Evans et al., 2015). In particular, sorting tests are often used in the assessment of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) because deficits in reasoning and ‘executive’ functioning are thought to be a distinguishing feature of FTD (Strauss, 2006).
The demand for simple, accurate and time-efficient screens to detect cognitive decline at point-of-care is increasing. Sorting tests are often used to detect the ‘executive’ deficits that are commonly associated with behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), but their potential for use as a cognitive screen with older adults is unclear. A comprehensive search of four databases identified 142 studies that compared the sorting test performance (e.g. WCST, DKEFS-ST) of adults with a common neurodegenerative disorder (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, bvFTD, Parkinson’s disease) and cognitively-healthy controls. Hedges’ g effect sizes were used to compare the groups on five common test scores (Category, Total, Perseveration, Error, Description). The neurodegenerative disorders (combined) showed large deficits on all scores (g -1.0 to -1.3), with dementia (combined subtypes) performing more poorly (g -1.2 to -2.1), although bvFTD was not disproportionately worse than the other dementias. Overall, sorting tests detected the cognitive impairments caused by common neurodegenerative disorders, especially dementia, highlighting their potential suitability as a cognitive screen for older adults.
Stress- and trauma-related blockade of episodic-autobiographical memory processing
2020, Neuropsychologia
Citation Excerpt :
Only in the Logical Memory Test of the Wechsler-Memory-Scale-revised (Härting et al., 2000) his performance was poor. He had problems with word generation and abstraction (finding commonalities) as revealed by his results from testing with the Boston Naming Test (Kaplan et al., 2001), MoCa, DemTect (Calabrese and Kessler, 2000), the Abstract Reasoning Test (Cronin-Golomb et al., 1987a, 1987b), and the Sorting Task of Delis et al. (1992). His emotional theory-of-mind capabilities appeared significantly impaired as measured by Baron-Cohen's Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001; German translation).
Memory disorders without a direct neural substrate still belong to the riddles in neuroscience. Although they were for a while dissociated from research and clinical arenas, risking becoming forgotten diseases, they sparked novel interests, paralleling the refinements in functional neuroimaging and neuropsychology. Although Endel Tulving has not fully embarked himself on exploring this field, he had published at least one article on functional amnesia (Schacter et al., 1982) and ignited a seminal article on amnesia with mixed etiology (Craver et al., 2014). Most importantly, the research of Endel Tulving has provided the researchers and clinicians in the field of dissociative or functional amnesia with the best framework for superiorly understanding these disorders through the lens of his evolving concept of episodic memory and five long term memory systems classification, which he developed and advanced. Herein we use the classification of long-term memory systems of Endel Tulving as well as his concepts and views on autonoetic consciousness, relationships between memory systems and relationship between episodic memory and emotion to describe six cases of dissociative amnesia that put a challenge for researchers and clinicians due to their atypicality. We then discuss their possible triggering and maintaining mechanisms, pointing to their clinical heterogeneity and multifaceted causally explanatory frameworks.
Relational concept learning in domestic dogs: Performance on a two-choice size discrimination task generalises to novel stimuli
2017, Behavioural Processes
One central issue in the study of animal cognition concerns conceptual behaviour, where an organism categorises objects, events, and relationships so as to transfer previously learned rules to novel contexts. In this study, we investigated whether or not dogs demonstrate conceptual behaviour in the form of simple relational class concept learning. A two-choice visual discrimination task was used to assess if dogs are capable of simple relational class concept learning by generalising the same rule (i.e. circle is larger or smaller than) to various novel shapes. Eight purebred Lagotto Romagnolos were included in the study. The results demonstrated that they were capable of generalising a previously learned size discrimination rule to novel stimuli; however, there were differences in dog’s generalization capabilities across certain shapes. Considering their unique relationship with humans, and their immediacy in everyday life, a better understanding of conceptual behaviour and generalising abilities in domestic dogs may have implications for training and management methods, as well as contributing to comparative psychology and applied ethology.
Neuropsychology of the Prefrontal Cortex
2013, Neuropsychology
This chapter reviews the neuropsychology of the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex occupies approximately one-third of the entire cerebral cortex in humans. This proportion is much greater than that seen in other species. In fact, when proportionality is taken into account, the prefrontal cortex occupies over 200% more cortical space in humans compared to monkeys. The magnitude of this evolutionary development is dramatic and without precedence elsewhere in the brain. This dramatic growth of the prefrontal cortex in humans reinforces its importance in evolutionary survival of humans. The prefrontal cortex is most prominent in humans, matures late in development, has a similar morphology when compared to other cortical regions, extensive connectivity, and has some idiosyncratic features related to the functional properties of its neurons. It is also involved in many neurological disorders. Given these characteristics, it is inferred that the prefrontal cortex plays some integrative role in cognitive functioning. One way to discover its role in cognitive functioning is to examine the effects of frontal lobe lesions or dysfunction on higher cognitive processes in humans. The chapter presents these findings.
Comparative analysis of executive functions as a function of the level of schooling in young residents in the city of Medellín
2022, Anuario de Psicologia

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Componential analysis of problem-solving ability: Performance of patients with frontal lobe damage and amnesic patients on a new sorting test

Abstract

Neuropsychologia

Neuropsychologia

Cortex

Neuropsychologia

Trends Neurosci.

Cortex

Neuropsychologia

Neuropsychologia

Neuropsychologia

Cortex

A perceptual maze test sensitive to brain damage

J. Neur. Neurosurg. Psychiat.

Profiles of demented and amnesic patients on the California Verbal Learning Test: Implications for the assessment of memory disorders

Psychological Assessment

The mental changes due to frontal lobe damage

J. Psychol.

Statistics

A Manual for the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

Human behavior after extensive removal from the frontal lobes

Archs neurol. Psychiat.

Human Neuropsychology

Selective memory loss and global intellectual deficits in alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome

Psychol. Med.

Cognitive impairment following frontal lobe damage and its relevance to human amnesia

Behav. Neurosci.